Japan: Finding Leadership In New Technology Areas


By Osamu Nakamura The semiconductor industry is a technology-driven industry — and technology invention and innovation are the engines that drive industry growth. Japan has seen the global landscape for semiconductor manufacturing change, and in turn, Japan’s semiconductor industry has been changing, finding technology leadership opportunities in emerging technology areas that lead to grow... » read more

IoT Requires The Evolution Of The “New” 200mm Fab


By Bill Martin & Paul Werbaneth In April, we all celebrated the 50th anniversary of Moore’s Law. While critical for the industry, sometimes “chasing-the-latest-technology” business model is not the answer. Sometimes veering away from Moore’s Law makes more sense and is a better alternative. But, ever since the 1970’s, many product developer minds were conditioned that smaller w... » read more

Next-Gen Metrology: Searching For A Bright X-Ray Source


By Debra Vogler Metrology for semiconductor applications is a broad topic regardless of whether one is talking about front-end-of-line (FEOL) or back-end-of-line (BEOL) technologies. Benjamin Bunday, project manager, CD Metrology and senior member of the technical staff at SEMATECH, broke down the topic of next-generation metrology at 10nm and below into four main categories for SEMI: • I... » read more

The Roadmap To 5nm


By Debra Vogler Among the challenges the semiconductor industry will be facing as it moves down the path to node 5 are resistance-capacitance (RC) management and integration. SEMI is pleased to announce a SEMICON West 2015 STS technical program exploring these and other high-volume manufacturing challenges. According to An Steegen, SVP of Process Technology at imec, the list of RC managemen... » read more

Industry Luminaries Outline China’s Semiconductor Growth Prospects


Industry and government luminaries participating at the SEMICON China 2015 Grand Opening Keynote session, the Semiconductor Market & China Opportunity Forum, and the Tech Investment Forum reviewed the expanding business opportunities and the key domestic policies aimed at growing the semiconductor industry ecosystem in China. This article primarily covers insights on the government’s new ... » read more

50 Years Of Moore’s Law


The Industry at 50 This month marks the 50th anniversary of Moore’s Law, an amazing milestone for the semiconductor industry. Looking back through our industry’s history, we must marvel at the speed, growth, technical sophistication and transformative changes computer chips have made over the past few decades. None of this would have been possible without semiconductor equipment and materi... » read more

“Make in India”


By Bettina Weiss In recent weeks, I have been talking to SEMI members and other stakeholders about India. Some consider any semiconductor industry development in the country a dream. Others are looking more closely at current indicators of something real and tangible, trying to determine whether to get involved. The electronics sector in India will have to satisfy a huge demand growth... » read more

The Semiconductor Future Looks Bright!


At the beginning of the SEMI Market Forum held on Dec. 4, during the 38th SEMCON Japan, session moderator and SEMI Global Vice President Jonathan Davis said, “There are significant changes in the semiconductor industry and it is not the industry it was 38 years ago, 10 years ago, even 5 years ago. There have been dramatic changes in technology complexity in addition to incredible industry adv... » read more

Solid Years: Cautious Optimism Drives Equipment Spending Into 2015


Worldwide semiconductor capital expenditure growth for this year is expected to be 11% and will increase another 8% in 2015. Throughout 2014, SEMI has tracked 177 facilities worldwide investing about US$34 billion on semiconductor equipment. In 2015, 190 facilities are being tracked with fab equipment spending worth over $40 billion. The double-digit growth in fab equipment spending for this ye... » read more

IoT Sees Real Adoption In Industry, Driving Development Of Ecosystem


The smart watch may get the press, but smart connected sensors in the factory are quietly saving companies millions a year. Companies from Intel to Rio Tinto are reporting real bottom line results from industrial applications of the Internet of Things. That solid ROI is driving development of the infrastructure needed to ease further adoption in what will likely be the biggest market for the I... » read more

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